“In Tuesday’s Bulletin Board, Cheesehead By Proxy reports on a weight-loss ad in which one of the clients boasts that his numbers ‘have went down.’ I thought: Good for him! I have plenty of extra me that I wouldn’t mind seeing ‘went with the wind.’

“That phrase came to mind so readily because just the evening before, I had the happy accident of clicking upon an episode of ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ on one of those ‘bonus’ broadcast channels that don’t even appear in the listings. The abbreviated-for-syndication program began as usual, with Carol taking questions from the audience. But then — I couldn’t believe my good fortune! — it went directly to that classic sketch ‘Went With the Wind!’ I called for the Swede to come watch, and told the Swede’s Clone, now a young adult, that she also had to watch what is surely one of television’s all-time comedy classics.

“It will come as no surprise that the Swede and I remember the sketch best for one particular moment, but we refrained from mentioning it, not wanting to ruin the moment for the Swede’s Clone. So when Carol, as Starlet O’Hara, came down the stairs in the dress she ‘saw in the window,’ I turned to see our daughter’s reaction. Sure enough, she was fighting a losing battle to contain her laughter, just as her mom and I had 40 years earlier, when we were kids watching with our parents.

“It was good to see this iconic moment of TV history being appreciated by yet another generation. A true classic never goes out of style.”

See world … Another close encounter of the natural kind, reported by JIM SHUMAKER of New Richmond, Wis.: “The Family: bald eagles along the Mississippi River, on the Minnesota side. I hope your readers enjoy the photos of our beautiful, majestic national bird.”

Could be verse!

Tim Torkildson: “Subject: Sandman Goes on Strike Against Americans!

“From the Wall Street Journal: ‘It is no surprise that many Americans don’t get enough sleep. Now, new government data reveal who the sleep-deprived are and where they live.

“ ‘Hawaii, the southeastern U.S. and states along the Appalachian Mountains have the lowest percentages of adults who get enough shut-eye, while South Dakota and other Great Plains states are the nation’s most well-rested region, according to a report released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.’

“The CDC reports that, in Hawaii, people lack

“their full eight hours snoozing in the equatorial sack.

“Ditto Appalachia and Confederate domains,

“where the Sandman’s skimping on his pacifying grains.

“Unemployed, or single, or bereft of a degree —

“all increase your lack of sleep, my little chickadee.

“Less than seven hours sleep is linked to pleasantries

“like stoutness, a bum ticker, and even diabetes.

“I’d like to think this poem will help to cure that botheration:

“By being so tedious, it will inspire hibernation!”

Out of the mouths of babes (resp’l)

Pop Corn: “Subject: Wouldn’t ‘fast food’ have zero calories?

“Peggy T’s anecdote [BB, 2/23/2016] about Reegan and Zoey and the victuals they will abstain from eating during Lent has me wondering: Isn’t ‘fast food’ an oxymoron?”

“I was raised on Reaney Avenue on the East Side, which was named in 1872 for John H. Reaney, a ‘very kind and congenial’ Mississippi River steamboat captain who moved here from Pittsburgh.

“My wife was raised on Schletti Street, near Como Lake. It was named for the Schletty family, who bought a significant amount of land in the area starting in the 1870s. Two of the family homes they built in the area are still standing. Apparently Elizabeth Schletty, on a whim, changed the ‘y’ at the end of the name to an ‘i’ when naming the street.

“There are more than 1,000 entries in the book, and it’s fun and interesting to look up the names of other streets and places in St. Paul.”

A morning in the life

IGHGrampa: “I started off with a stop at Mac’s for breakfast. Usually I get their Number 2 (biscuit sandwich with fried egg, sausage and cheese), as I did this morning. Sometimes I get the Big Breakfast, but Mac’s scrambled eggs aren’t very good. Sorry, Mac.

“As I ate, some other old guys were talking. One was telling a story in which he used a ‘voice.’ I mean a cartoony voice. That’s so the listeners will know when to laugh. You identify the character you are mocking with the ‘voice.’ Some people can do ‘voices’ very well. This guy did OK, but his ‘voice’ didn’t sound very challenging. If you can make a funny face as you do the ‘voice,’ it helps a lot in the story.

“In the car, the window got fogged a little, and I couldn’t find the switch to turn on the defogger. Note to automobile dashboard designers: Make the switches easier to find. If I’m going down the road at 55 or 60 and my window fogs up, I don’t have time to lean over to read the fine print on those space-age controls. I’d like some of those ’40s or ’50s-era switches — big and easy to find if it’s dark or I’m preoccupied with just staying on the road.

“Here’s a thought for you. You’re driving down the road in this big thing that weighs several thousand pounds. It’s raining and you can’t see well. Suddenly another big thing is coming right at you. You have to steer your big thing so it will pass to the right of the other big thing and miss it by only two or three feet. Sounds rather daunting, doesn’t it? Yet we do it every day. [Bulletin Board says: You’ve reminded us of our favorite scene (some would call it ‘iconic’) from ‘Annie Hall,’ which you can see here: tinyurl.com/Duanes-room.]

“I was going to go to Home Depot and see if they had any nice boards. If you’re buying boards for little crafty jobs, don’t get any that feel clammy or a little sticky. That’s pitch in the wood. It hasn’t been kiln-dried well enough. That will gum up some of your tools and sandpaper. I passed on the Home Depot excursion. It was raining harder just then, and I didn’t feel like running through it.

“I did stop at Byerly’s. I got some olives from their deli department. One of my many weaknesses is big gourmet olives. I also got some gourmet cookies for the grandchildren. They look like ordinary sugar cookies with lots of colorful M&Ms on them. Maybe I’ll have one, too.”

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